An Investigation And Analysis Of Reticence In Rural Primary School English Class

Reticence in English class is not only adverse to students’learning, but also bad for teachers’teaching effect. And reticence of rural primary school students, the special group of English learners in remote areas, calls for attention. In exploring this phenomenon, the author of the thesis carried out careful investigation and studies, trying to answer the following three questions.1. Is the reticence a common phenomenon in rural primary schools?2. What are the causes of reticence in class?3. What can be done to improve the situation?In order to answer the three questions, the author handed out questionnaires to related teachers and students and interviewed them, as well as made records of classroom observation. The author has found, above all, reticence is a common phenomenon in rural primary school English class. Although the majority of students do agree that answering questions actively can do good to their English learning, they are still accustomed to keep silence in class. And their reticence has a lot to do with students’English level and presentation skills.The author then summarizes five causes of reticence in rural primary school English class. On the part of students, they are affected by family environment, geographical limitations and conventions, and their English level is generally poorer than that of the students in the city. Comparatively speaking, they are more likely to conform to the behavior of the majority, probably because they care more about their self-esteem. On the other hand, teachers may also be confronted with inadequate professional knowledge and the lack of questioning skills.Based on the above-mentioned five causes, the author put forward seven solutions, namely, giving students more encouragement and prize to boost their confidence about their English study; making the most of every class and teaching students how to make full use of their spare time so that they can spend more time on English; creating group work to break student’s conformity; giving rural teachers more opportunities to improve their teaching skills; knowing more about the students and building English learning atmosphere to improve students’pronunciation. What’s more, the government should improve the teaching environment of rural primary schools and the English teachers of rural primary schools should voluntarily explore school-based courses.